Page 105 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

I wrapped my arms around her. “I will always come for you. That’s what sisters do.”

“You are going to hold this over my head forever, aren’t you?” she grumbled into my shoulder.

“Absolutely. Sisters do that too.” I grinned. “You are going to go on so many coffee runs.Somany.”

Vivi hopped off my lap and went to the table where a Dutch Bros cup was already waiting.

“One hot Lava Flow with extra cinnamon and whip.” She handed me the signature white cup with its blue lid that told me I was awesome. The rich-smelling dark chocolate and espresso with a kick of cinnamon was enough to make anyone happy.

“Lava Flow, huh? I figured you as more of a Double Torture kind of girl,” Rune said from across the room. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest casually, one foot against the wall.

My mother looked back, seeming to see him for the first time.

“Who is this?” she asked, eyeing him up and down.

“Mom, this is Rune, my boyfriend. He is the one you bulldozed to get to me when you came in the room,” I answered.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, offering a hand.

She took it politely. “Well, at least you speak Dutch Brothers. That is a definite point in your favor.”

“Point?” Rune asked.

She finally looked at my father. “Do we like this one?” she asked Arik, pointing at Rune.

“NowI exist?” Arik threw his hands in the air.

My mother waited for a response, ignoring his outburst.

I had been on the other end of that stare many times, and it was intense. I felt a little bad for Arik at that moment.

“Eh, he is all right. He was protective of Tori when he finally showed up with backup and wouldn’t leave her side during surgery.”

My gaze whipped back to Rune who was rubbing the back of his neck, looking at the ground. I hadn’t known he was by my side the entire time. My heart monitor skipped another beat, making him look at me with a smirk, then wink. He snickered when it skipped again.

Thankfully, no one else seemed to notice.

“Where is Sarah? I need to see all my girls,” Mom said.

That was a good question. She should have been the first one in here and yelling at everyone to fuck off.

Vivi jumped up, shouting, “I’ll get her,” and then ran out of the room.

“Diane, talk to me,” Arik said with a sigh.

“No thank you. I don’t talk to dead men.” She turned back to me and tucked my blankets up and around my body.

I was pretty sure she just needed to do something, anything.

“Dead?” he asked.

“Yes, didn’t you tell me to file a missing person report and have you declared dead so I could move on with my life?”

“Yes.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you?”

“No.”

“So, we are still married.” He smiled.

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